Harsh Mariwala, one of the most prosperous entrepreneurs in the pre-liberalized era, had its fair share of glory when it has soaked the tumultuous years of battles in the rapidly growing consumer goods market (FMCG) in the 1990s and 2000. With its empire now in safe hands and separating daily operations, the president of Major Homegrown, Marico Marico Ltd. Speaking to the company Today Mindrush 2025 in Mumbai, Mariwala underlines the need for success in the D2C space rapidly, the importance of talent and the changing landscape.
“Until four to five years, this [FMCG] was the most defensive sector. It was very difficult for a new entrant to creating brands, with so many distribution network. You had to be available in something like 10 Lakh points of sale. In addition, you needed big budgets to promote your brands until digital marketing became or that you did not have to distribute to retail stores, “explains Mariwala, adding that the large accessibility of the digital space has led to a thrust in the D2C (direct to consume) brands in recent years.” He says he says.
Although such disruptions are considered threats to existing companies, Mariwala has looked for new opportunities. “So we thought that we could buy D2C brands and that is why we were the most aggressive among FMCG companies to buy four brands that will make a turnover of 1,000 Rs RS next year,” he said. As successful with a D2C brand is very different from a traditional FMCG brand, they have been kept in a different place. Marico’s success with its D2C brands is reflected in the fact that their profitability is much higher than most other D2C brands, he says.
According to him, one of his keys to success over the decades was the talent that hired and the learning he obtained from his people. “I started working at a very young age. I graduated and I was not brilliant enough to go to a management school. I joined the family business and I transformed it from a brand without a brand to a brand business. I wanted to learn a lot and most of the learnings that I received from the latent that I hired, ”explains Mariwala. Thus, he explains, his main objective was to promote talent-a bet that paid well.
According to Mariwala, the importance of obtaining the best possible talents for its activities is as crucial as obtaining market share and transmitting growth. “I tell other entrepreneurs that there is a great war for the latent and that war is as important as market share or growth. [pool] You will not be able to excuse [your plan]He says.
Mariwala, who established a strong Indian Indian company (FMCG) Indian goods in the middle of the assault of giant foreign multinationals in space, once turned the table on Unilever Hindustan (Hul) on the hair care market.
Recalling one of the fiercely fought battles in the early 2000s with FMCG Major Hul [local subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch FMCG giant Unilever] Told the public how Hul had tried to acquire Marico. “They had already acquired two brands on the market and the levers (the previous entity of Hul) wanted to acquire us. They made public that they were going to take us. They announced it at the meeting of their analysts, broadcasting many words. “Many approaches have been made to me through bankers. We have received a direct telephone call from the president of Levers for the buyout, otherwise, you are in history. If you sell all your future generations. And I said I’m not after money, ”he adds.
